Jacksonville, SHG advance in Class 3A boys regional

Monday

Mar 3, 2014 at 9:46 PMMar 3, 2014 at 10:57 PM

Tyler Ring led Jacksonville to a 43-41 win over Springfield High in a Class 3A Southeast Regional first-round game. In Monday's second game of the first round, Sacred Heart-Griffin defeated Quincy Notre Dame 78-58.

By Ryan MahanStaff Writer

Tyler Ring isn't making friends at Springfield High School.

On Friday night, the 6-foot-2 senior guard had 28 points and 11 rebounds to lead Jacksonville past the Senators at the JHS Bowl in the regular-season finale.

In Monday's Class 3A Southeast Regional first-round game, Ring's stat line wasn't as eye-popping, but the results certainly were as he led Jacksonville to a 43-41 win over Springfield at Scheffler Gymnasium.

Ring finished with 11 points and had just three rebounds but made five of six free throw attempts.

Now the fifth-seeded Crimsons (11-18) will take on top-seeded Lanphier (25-1) in the regional semifinals on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

In Monday's second game of the first round, No. 3 Sacred Heart-Griffin defeated No. 6 Quincy Notre Dame 78-58.

The Cyclones (18-9) will face No. 2 Southeast following Wednesday's first game.

Ring leader

The Senators (7-20) came out in the second half hitting shots they missed in the first half. Meanwhile, Springfield's defense stepped it up a notch and held Jacksonville to just seven third-quarter points. That helped Springfield close a 10-point halftime deficit to just 32-29 by the end of the quarter.

Springfield sophomore Isaac Nelson's steal and finish gave the Senators a 33-32 lead with 5 minutes 43 seconds left in the game.

Then it was Ring's turn to again play the role of hero.

Ring poked the ball out of the hands of a Springfield player and would get the pass back as he raced to the hoop. He scored to give Jacksonville the lead for good at 34-33 with 4:10 left.

The next basket was again by Ring on a layup, forcing Springfield coach Matt Reed to call timeout.

“We had a couple of unfortunate turnovers,” Reed said. “They weren't scoring at the time and that got them an easy one.”

After Jacksonville's Blake Hance would score his 16th point of the night on a turnaround baseline jumper that hit both sides of the rim before falling in, Nelson cut Jacksonville's lead to 38-36 on a 3-pointer with :42 remaining.

Nelson finished with a game-high 17 points.

Following a Jacksonville timeout, Ring made a baseball throw on the inbounds pass to a streaking Michael Fisher, leading to an uncontested layup and giving Jacksonville a 40-36 lead.

“I was pretty confident it was going to work,” said Ring, who on Friday paced Jacksonville to a 65-56 win over the Senators. “I saw the man on (Fisher) get screened pretty good and I just knew it (would work).”

So did Jacksonville coach J.R. Dugan.

“We run that all the time,” Dugan said. “And it seems like it works all the time.

“I've run that play all 18 years I've been a head coach and it's worked all 18 years.”

Leading 41-39 after a dunk from Obediah Church, Ring stepped up and hit two free throws to practically seal the win with 7.6 ticks left.

“I was nervous to shoot them, but I am confident at the line and I just knew I had to knock them down,” Ring said.

SHG 78, QND 58

Malik Turner saved the Cyclones on Monday.

His 21 points carried SHG past not only the Raiders, but also a sluggish start.

“We didn't have any intensity earlier and I tried to get us going with me getting to the basket to open it up,” Turner said. “I was getting to the basket off screens and reversals.”

QND (7-19) opened the game with a 16-11 first-quarter lead before SHG pushed ahead in the second.

By halftime, QND was still hanging with the Cyclones, trailing 31-25.

It was the second game in a row that had SHG coach Blake Lucas searching for answers.

On Thursday, Taylorville came to SHG's gymnasium and left with a 75-69 upset victory.

“There's times we play real well and times not,” Lucas said. “That's a great team for you. We want to be a great team.

Lucas knows if his team has a repeat performance on Wednesday, the Cyclones' season will be over.

“We weren't ready to play. I didn't think we had any intensity out there. I thought it was a matter of the schedule said 8 o'clock, so we showed up for the game but we didn't come to play.”

Information

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
The State Journal-Register ~ Street address: One Copley Plaza (corner of Ninth Street and Capitol Avenue), Springfield, ILMailing address: The State Journal-Register, P.O. Box 219, Springfield, IL 62705-0219 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service